as for John Elway being elusive…I agree, but I also want to point out that he owns the sack record by like 100+ sacks. lol

+1 on your Peyton statements…I hate losing to him, but he is what I look for in a QB…drive, passion, commitment to the game.

Absolutely agree with you on the “best superbowl ever” junk. It was a good game. It was not a great game. Now, if I were a Steelers or Cardinals fan, I’d have a different opinion, but I’m not. I totally agree about it not being a top 5.

Big Ben is really really good under pressure. Like Elway he must have really good hearing. People always thought Elway had a 6th sense, but I remember one of his hof interviews where they asked him about it and he said, “I could hear them coming…even from the blind side.” 270+ lb linemen must not be that stealthy. :)

I disagree with you on Warner…yes he’s succeeded with talent around him, but he has to make reads and get the ball out there before people can catch it. Elway didn’t win any superbowls until we surrounded him with talent…they weren’t even competitive until that happened. Warner is iffy right now about going into the hof, but he definitely deserves consideration.

Kurt Warner had Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald at his disposal during various points in his career . . .

I like to compare Warner to Johnny Unitas, who no one argues is a Hall of Famer (it’s too easy – former cast-off becomes superstar). While Warner is no Johnny Unitas, he’s about the only comparable I can come up with.

Unitas, at various points in his career, was able to use the assistance of the likes of Alan Ameche, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Jimmy Orr and John Mackey (just to name a few).

I understand where you’re coming from on the dome front . . . but despite the whole controlled-environment thing, the fact is that you still have to perform on the field in an ultra-competitive environment, which is something Kurt Warner has done through most of his career (I’ll give him a mulligan for his last two years in St. Louis when he was clearly not right, and for the season with the Giants in which he was warming the hot seat for some dude named Eli).

But to me, Kurt Warner is a Hall of Famer not because of the rags-to-riches story . . . but because he is a pretty damned good quarterback. I’ve never seen a QB before who was able to get rid of the football as quickly as he could, under considerable front seven pressure, and deliver the ball ACCURATELY like Warner has done in the past (and still does). And he’s put up unbelievable numbers in his career, despite getting off to a “late start” (he was 28 when he got his Rams breakthrough . . . no one had given him a true chance before that).

Add 4 Pro Bowl selections, 2 NFL MVP awards, a Super Bowl victory (and Super Bowl MVP award) and three Super Bowl appearances (including the top three passing days in Super Bowl history – not exactly easy to pull off even if you DO have skilled players around you) . . . and if you ask me, you’re looking at a gold jacket and a bronze bust.

If this is all coming out due to my Midwestern bias, I apologize. But I seem to think the man is a Hall of Famer. Then again, it won’t matter, because he probably won’t get in anyway. (Shannon Sharpe, anyone?)

Here’s my cent (i lost my other penny):

1. so we can expect to see Cutler pimping any and every product now? Master Card commericals here I come! :)

2. I think the most important trait of peypey is that he’s a student of the game… I want Cutler to mimic that…and bust his ass like peypey does…

3. SB ending was great…and I have no problem saying it was one of the better endings..(although I still hold Montana’s drive against Cincy in high regard). But best SB ever… PUH-LEASE…. also, did anyone else feel the game is hampered big time by all the tv timeouts? it felt like it took till the end before the game got into a groove….

4. Big Ben is damn elusive, but the closest thing to Elway’s elusivity is McNabb—when healthy. Hands down….

5. I have nothing personal against Warner aside from my personal feelings toward athletes and the way they go about their expressing their faith…. I think his career is remarkable simply because he’s beaten so many odds. Yes, he had incredible talent around him and the right offenses at the time (Giants offense and the Meadowlands were like kryptonite to him). If I ran the HOF I’d truly make it for the elite of the elite (for example next year, Jerry Rice yes, Tim Brown and Chris Carter no).. and not just a Hall of Very Good (HoVG), which I think it has become (Cooperstown is the same way). However, because it’s not truly for the elite, I’m not going to lose sleep if Warner gets in… The fact that the Cardinals made it to the SuperBowl is amazing… Seriously, the Cardinals…That’s like the Clippers going to the NBA championship…

6. I like cheese and believe everyone should… :)

Not so much. Too many penalties, and the only reason it was close was because the Steelers let their collective foot off the gas. Here’s my top 5:

1. XXXII Broncos 31, Packers 24, Because I’m a homer.
2. XXXIV Rams 23, Titans 16, Greatest finish in Super Bowl history
3. XLII Giants 17, Patriots 14, Mostly because of the situation
4. XVI 49ers 26, Bengals 21, because of the finish
5. XXXVI Patriots 20, Rams 17, back when the Pats were underdogs

Also up there are XXXVIII (Pats v. Panthers), the one good Cowboys-Steelers matchup, and then this one.

It’s kind of interesting to see how the games are on average much closer now than they were in the past. Ever since XXXII, there seems to have been a run of very competitive ’Bowls.

I’ve read before that Cutler is a demon in the fillm room. Shanahan mentioned it again the other day. Nice to hear. If he begins to really see what his options are and gets the direction that he clearly needs, he will be even better. A lot better, and that’s saying a great deal. You’re right – learning from Manning will be a great chance for him.

His knowledge of the game is encyclopedic. His ability to adjust the play at the line is currently the best in the NFL and has been for some time. His precision in passing is excellent. It’s difficutl for me to lay his tremendous knowledge and skills at the feet of ’his lineman can hold".

Warner may or may not be HOF material, I’ll give everyone that. But he’s accomplished what he’s accomplished and you can’t take that away. While we can say he’s been blessed with talent around him in his good years, I don’t think you can hold that against Warner. Does that mean he could be a more well rounded QB? Possibly.

But like I said, he’s done what he’s done and you can’t take that away. I am not sure it is straight up HOF worthy work but it should be worth the conversation.

As far as the Super Bowl, I have to respectfully disagree wholeheartedly. Most of the penalties were in the second half, and the Steelers – while showing some weakness in the red zone, played some great ball control offense and the Cards really stepped up on defense to keep the score within reason.

There may not have been a light the scoreboard up airshow in the first half but both teams slogged it out well, and when you consider the fact the Cards touched the ball all of twice by the time they finally scored, they were lucky to be in it at all at halftime.

Arizona adjusted nicely at the half and came out swinging. I think this was a classig game plan, ball control offense for a half and then both teams began to figure each other out in the second half, with the cards clearly holding the advantage.

Personally, I think the Steelers win was pure grit – I don’t think by the end of the game they had an answer for the Cards’ offense, they simply imposed their will on their opponent and the Cards, while playing a gutsy game, were simply outclassed where it mattered.

Best Sb ever? Possibly. But I don’t think the word ‘horrible’ even belongs in the conversation where this game was concerned.

Maybe this is a little off tangent, or talked about before, but on the subject of Elway, I don’t know if Cutler has the intangibles that he had. He was great in the most important category: wins. He fought hard to get those wins. I just don’t get the feel from Cutler that he’ll put himself out there to win. Oh, he’ll make the risky throw (and be picked off), but he won’t do the other things. He doesn’t keep the play alive with his feet until someone opens up; he just fires. He won’t go for a timely scramble when the Broncos need 6 yards. I see 97 yard drives stopped by him angrily throwing 4 times into coverage. He can compare arms with Elway if he wants, but he is lacking in the W category.